Santa Fe and Houses of the Moon

Our trip north to Santa Fe took us up Hwy 25 North through Sierra County and past the Cibola National Forest and San Mateo Mountains. We noticed on our map that we were approaching the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge so we decided to take a stop to stretch our legs. It is so great to be able to make spontaneous stops like this to check out things we would normally pass by when travel time is a factor.

The refuge is located in the Chihuahuan desert 20 miles north of Socorro, New Mexico.

The refuge currently hosts the Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, conducted by the University of New Mexico. Our hike took us out the back of the welcome center (pictured) and out into the desert.

There is just something about the sky out here in the desert. It is so BIG and so BLUE!

There is so much life out in this seemingly desolate place. We saw many birds and lots of desert plants that were very happy about the recent rains that have come through.

So, right away I need to mention that IS NOT my ass in this shadow photo! It is my bum bag. Sure, all those tacos, beans, ribs and chicken we have been eating have to go somewhere........that is why we stop in the middle of nowhere to take a hike!
Keep it movin! :o)

After our hike we continued north on Hwy. 25 to Albequerque. There we hopped on Interstate 40 for a short hop to get to scenic route 14 to go north to Santa Fe. This highway is only two lanes. It took us through beautiful back country. Little towns like Golden and Madrid (an artists' town).

 

The moon was out early as we approached Santa Fe. It should be full for us tomorrow night.

Oops! Looks like the aliens are still following us. We turned a corner on the road and saw this alien spaceship cloud ahead of us. Hopefully, we won't have a close encounter of the third kind when we get to the spa. Nano, Nano!

Ten Thousand Waves Japanese Spa and Houses of the Moon
This is very exciting, indeed! We have reserved a few nights at this spa in Santa Fe. Rowan has been working herself to death for the last seven years, so I figured this is exactly what she needs to get rid of those knots in her neck from all of those years of stress and endless hours of work (and I kinda like it too :o) ). Lots of R and R, hot tubs, saunas, massages, salt rubs, Japanese food and of course a nice glass of saki now and then should be just the ticket.

The spa is located in the mountains just above the center of town. This is our room.

Our Townsman room is called Luna, after the ancient Roman goddess personifying the moon.

The room has a wood burning kiva fireplace. It will be in the 20's tonight so the first order of business for me was to get that fire going, for Rowan, checking her email!

The whole Japanese theme with a southwestern twist is done just beautifully throughout the entire room and complex.

Just when we were starting to kick back and relax, Rowan went to use the toilet. There was a sudden, 'what the heck'? coming from the bathroom. I went in there and found Rowan trying to figure out why the toilet seat was warm. Had someone else just gotten up from there, and if so, where the heck were they? To our surprise, the toilet seat was heated. But wait......................

The toilet literally has a life of its own!

I noticed this control panel on the wall next to the toilet. This is when I started losing it.
The toilet is like a car wash. You can rear cleanse - low or high volume - and front cleanse all while oscillating or pulsating and of course blow dry everything when you are done. Naturally, Rowan was HORRIFIED to try any of it. Me, well, if any of you know me.........well, thank god I was sitting on the toilet when I tried all of them (Yes, all of them) because I started laughing so hard I leaked. Thank god our room is not connected to any other because I'm sure the paramedics would have shown up at our door thinking someone was having an attack of some sort! It was absolutely hilarious. Now, of course, I want one at home because it is so fabulous. I started calling the bloody thing Honey!

Rowan found a story on the BBC about the Japanese toilets that is just too funny considering we just had our first experience with one. For your further enjoyment, go here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38660860 

A few photos from around the grounds of the spa

The waterfall outside the restaurant had been frozen by the snow

Inside the spa grounds there is a big koi pond with gigantic koi

We spent one day kicking around Santa Fe and went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
Can't take photos inside, so you just need to go there. It is fantastic and you will learn things about Georgia and see photos of her you have never seen. The photos of her working in her vegetable garden at Ghost Ranch and her very early drawings/watercolors of architecture at the University of Virginia where she began her work as an artist are just outstanding. Go here for more information: https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/collections/okeeffes-art/

Entrance to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Santa Fe is just dripping in art. 

My pet mountain lion. This is an enameled bronze art work that looks so real it needs to be petted.

One side of the New Mexico Museum of Art. There is something about this southwestern architectural style that is so soft and inviting.

FOOD ALERT!

Viewing art makes me just ravenous, so we popped in to a tequila cafe and I had an emergency buffalo burger with mexican cheese, guacamole, chiles and crispy chips. We skipped the tequila since it was only 3pm.

Looks like we will need another hike tomorrow :o)

The sunset was breathtaking on our way back up to the spa.

And, we get a full moon tonight!

We got back to the spa and decided to take a late hot tub so we could enjoy that full moon in a relaxing environment.

Here we are after the tub, all rosie-faced and very relaxed. The spa provides kimonos for their guests who lodge with them. You see folks all over the grounds walking around in these so you really feel like you are in Japan.

The next day we decided to go on a hike to work off that burger from yesterday. There are a series of hiking trails all through these mountains around the spa, called the Dale Ball system (22 miles of interconnected and well signed/maintained trails).

Santa Fe behind us

The desert Yucca plant. Local Indians use the very fibrous Yucca leaves to make rope, baskets, and sandals.You can see the strings curling up on the leaves. Just pull them off the leaves and their strength will amaze you. The things you can learn in the desert!

We found this great example of the yucca strings on our hike.

There was still some snow from the last storm in them thar hills.

Beautiful mossy red rock with fungus (not the view from a plane window of the landscape below!)

We are so lucky to have this brisk, bright and sunny day for our hike.

We finished our hike and got back to the spa for our Ooooo-la-la 3 hour session of hot tubs, massage and salt rubs. Hopefully this will not only get that alien out of us, but will keep us human for some time on down the road.

Rowan continues to be horrified about me bringing the camera everywhere. I pulled it out as we sat down for our pre-treatment hot foot bath and of course she was horrified. "Put it away, put it away" she whispered. OK, FINE!

........until, of course, we got to our private hot tub. I promised no more photos after that. You will just have to come here to experience this place for yourselves to see how wonderful it is.

When we were all finished being pampered, we stumbled back to our place for a glass of saki. Our next task is to attempt to walk over to the spa restaurant Izanami for some Japanese tasty bites.

Next post is all about our dinner at Izanami.
There are courses. Can you say 'Omakase'?

  T or C, Riverbend Hot Springs and Time To Relax!

 After our brief stop in Roswell to hang with our alien friends, we continued on to Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. 

We headed north from Roswell to drive around the White Sands Missile Range to get to T or C. Highway 380 took us up and through the Capitan Mountains.

On our way through the mountains, we passed the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. You can see lava for miles as you pass through this area.

 Here I am standing in front of a wall of lava.
  

Truth or Consequences:  

You may be thinking, why the heck would we want to visit a little spec of a town like this?

Well, hot springs have everything to do with it. This funky little hippie enclave has a number of hot spring resorts. We are staying at one called Riverbend Hot Springs, where we will spend the night and soak our tired traveling bones.

A little history:

Originally named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to "Truth or Consequences", the title of a popular NBC Radio program. In March 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs won the honor, officially changing its name on March 31, 1950 (the program broadcast from there the following evening, April 1st). Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event was called "Fiesta" and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May. We decided this unusual place is just the kind of place we would like to explore. With a population of about six thousand, it is just the right size too.

 Long considered sacred by the Apache and Mimbres tribes of southern New Mexico, the natural, mineral rich water of Riverbend Hot Springs has been relaxing and rejuvenating people for centuries. The spa sits literally on the bank of the Rio Grande River with spectacular views of Elephant Butte andTurtleback Mountain.

The therapeutic benefits of the geothermal water in the area have been known and used long before Geronimo and his Apache warriors left their weapons behind and spent the most peaceful time of their lives here as guests of Chief Victorio of the Warm Springs Apaches. The hot mineral water is free flowing from the springs into and out of the tubs.

Obviously I hadn't quite snapped out of my alien thing yet. I hope they didn't chip me! :o)

We were able to reserve a few sessions in private hot tubs during our 24 hour stay. Coming here in the off-season makes this easy. Extremely reasonable prices makes it even more inviting.

The view from our private tub.

 

 My alien eyes are starting to droop a little. I think I may be getting over my out of body experience!

You can see from this photo how empty the place is during the off season. We had a spectacular time at the spa.

Loading up the car is getting easier each time as we have been gone long enough to get the right system down. We decided as we left the spa that we will get Ripley washed before we leave town (that is what we call our car. We named her after Sigourney Weaver's character 'Ripley' in the original Alien movie). We need to get all of that road salt and dirt from our moment of horror around Dallas washed away. We are looking forward to lots of sunshine for the next 10 days or so.....we hope!

We stopped to have breakfast before we left town at the highly recommended Passion Pie Cafe. The Cafe is run by a couple of women who make everything 100% from scratch. This place and the whole town have a very laid back, relaxed and progressive feel. We decided we will definitely come back here for a longer stay in the future.

Rowan with her mini to-go pecan pie (in the bag) and my first REAL latte since we've been on the road. We ordered breakfast...................

.........my selection was bacon waffles (the bacon is crumbled up in the batter and then they bake the waffle. There is a piece of bacon in every bite! Inspired!). The soft fried eggs on the top and real maple syrup just iced the cake for me. Rowan chose Spanakopita and Greek salad. Delicious!

The theater across the street from the cafe shows the character of the whole town. A real old time western flair to the whole place.


  Onward.........
Santa Fe is next!

Close Encounters Of The Roswell Kind

OK, so I know many of you are thinking, Oh dear, they are not going to give us all that BS from the looney tunes down there in Roswell, New Mexico, are they?

I mean that flying saucer incident happened so long ago (1947 to be exact) and wasn't it proven to be a hoax? Hmmmmmmmm. A BIG HMMMMMMMMMMM!

If you have never been to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, we would highly recommend it. There is more to the story than most of us know from the press when we were young. I have always wanted to explore this place and this question since I was about 10 years old. I mean, are we that arrogant to think we are the only ones in this universe? Come to this museum and when you see the amount of research they have done on this subject, it will open your mind. I will say that some of the alien things on display are hilarious, but then we can all be funny, odd and a bit 'off' when we want to be :o)

When driving across this southern New Mexico landscape, you will experience that endless big sky in the high plains along the Sierra Blanca Mountain Range and you can just imagine how one could see a flying saucer hovering over that mystic expanse. Get ready.........here are the photos.

As you enter town from the south, you are greeted by this scene at the side of the road in a wheat field. Of course, I had to make a radical lane change to pull over to get these photos. The town folk have a good sense of humor about this whole alien thing. You can see the guy on the right is asking the alien next to him for a jump. The alien has a real set of jumper cables in his hands......

.....I had to take a close up of the woman offering the alien a pie. A PIE! It must be mince meat because that is how most people react to mince meat. Then, the alien on the left has an ET doll under his arm. Hilarious!

The museum has endless newspaper clippings from the 1947 incident in Roswell as well as others from all over the world. There are in-depth reports from the military, the pentagon, scientists, NASA, citizens.....it just goes on and on. There are also collections of artifacts from the Roswell UFO crash site.

 I loved this display of how they found the saucer in 1947. Reminds me of a few science project things I did back in jr. high school.

Here I am again, always trying to make peace with everyone :o)

Suddenly, with great surprise, the alien spaceship came to life and scared the
poop right out of me! Their voices sound like they have been sucking the helium out of balloons! I think they were trying to tell me that they are being held prisoner by earthlings. It was so silly and completely entertaining.

They also have a great collection of old alien movie posters

So, we finally got to the part of the exhibit where they go all X-Files with the dead alien in the air lock. Where are Scully and Mulder when we need them?

Ewe! Just Ewe!

The one profound thing he may have ever said. I think we need the aliens more than ever right now.

By the time we got to the end of the exhibit, I just wasn't feeling like myself.
I was starting to believe.........
Rowan took one look at me and said, "I think you are hungry. Let's go eat and maybe you will snap out of it".
We left the museum and noticed something strange had come over the neighborhood..........

.....There were aliens everywhere and they were directing us to Mexican food

 An alien matador? Are you kidding me?

  They led us right to the Pollo Bravo Mexican Grilled Chicken Cantina.

  .......where we proceeded to have the most delicious grilled chicken we have ever had in our lives. And we mean EVER! We split a half chicken with pinto beans (notice the red chili floating on the top), pickled red onion, hot tomato salsa, rice and corn tortilla. Everything house made and extremely alien fresh.
The best meal we have had so far on this trip. I think I can describe it as out of this world!

When we went out to get in the car, we noticed we were being watched by the light pole. They ARE out there!
 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :o)

Stay tuned. It gets more fun.  
  

CARLSBAD and THE CAVERNS

Arriving in Carlsbad, New Mexico and going to The Carlsbad Caverns National Park, was very exciting for both of us. For me, the last time I was here I was about 10 years old. For Rowan, she has never seen this place. The Caverns are truly something to behold. I remember when I was little, it was all so enormous and beyond my comprehension. Now that I understand how this place was created and the time it took, Oh my goodness! I feel like such a spec in this huge universe we live in. Rowan, and the scientist in her, was just awe struck and wanted to find the answers to all of it. We walked the mile and a quarter down from the entrance to the cave instead of taking the elevator down. We just had to see ALL of it. Plus, we wanted to see where all of the bats live during the spring and summer months. They are currently not in residence (they winter in Mexico). We are very sorry we missed them. I mean, how exciting to be in the bat cave! :o) We highly recommend a stop to see this wonder if you are ever in southern New Mexico.

We took well over a hundred photos. I will only post a few of the best here, which of course don't even come close to how incredible this place is in person.

A very brief history of the cave: Over 250 Million years ago the area was a coastline for an inland sea. The area was basically a huge reef. Hence, the huge caverns were created. Go here for the full story:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park 

Jim White was the crazy 16 year old who braved going into the cave for the first time with a homemade wire and wood ladder and a kerosene lamp in 1898. I would have been grounded for LIFE if my mom ever caught me doing something like that! And, he went by himself the first time! ACK!

The natural entrance to the cave. This is where, in the spring and summer, you can watch the hundreds of thousands of bats come out for their early evening feeding (they say that 300 of these bats can hang in 1 square foot of space!). Just imagine the shit (guano) that would cover you with that many bats flying overhead. Holy Crap is an understatement! We walked in this way.

The temperature in the cave is about 56 degrees year round with 90% humidity.

As we started to descend, it took about 15 minutes for our eyes to adjust to the darkness. This is the last photo I took with a flash. From here on out we used the very low lighting that is provided in the cave.

So can you find the image of the saint in this photo? This is a natural rock formation.

They have named these formations lions tails. Most of the rock formations you see in the cave are stalagmites and stalactites. If you go to the Wiki page, it will explain all of the minerals that make up these celestial formations and how they are created through time. It is fascinating information.

Mother Earth (for obvious reasons)

 To us, this looked like a grove of trees. It was about 30 feet tall.

 Wow! It is really hard to find words to describe what a wonder this place is. What a treat!

 Us just outside of The Caverns main entrance. It is amazing to think all of that crazy geology is going on just under our feet. This part of the country is truly amazing and so diverse.

We found a couple of our extra terrestrial friends standing guard in front of a little group of shops on our way out of the national park. We told them our next stop is in Roswell to see their friends, so they didn't beam us up to their mother ship...YET!

Thank goodness, because we were able to stop at a taco truck for dinner tonight.

We were in heaven, which is almost like outer space, right?

Maria made us chili rellenos, chicken tacos, pinto beans, rice and all the fixins. YUM!

This made Jenni VERY HAPPY! 

 Get Ready. Roswell is next. Beam me up, Scotty! :o)